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Tash Jayasinghe
CibbuanoButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
June 22nd 2006 13:57
This is a piece of cinema history. Often imitated, but seldom matched, this film has barely dated despite being over 30 years old. It's easy to understand why Robert Redford became a star after this, and Paul Newman's charisma has been seldom matched by any other actor since.
Partially based on real-life turn-of-the-century outlaw Butch Cassidy, the film follows his exploits (alongside his trusty sidekick, the Sundance Kid) from the U.S. to South America. Butch and Sundance, along with the Hole in the Wall gang, are train robbers. However, the rail company decides that it's had enough and sends the country's toughest lawman after them. As it transpires that there will inevitably be no escape for the pair whilst they remain in America they decide to make off to Bolivia, to start anew in another land of opportunity.
It's somewhat ironic that a film about nostalgia and changing times should hold up so well in years gone by, what with the phrase 'nostalgia aint what it used to be' and all that. Butch and Sundance are the last of a dying breed - happy-go-lucky opportunists who live on their wits and not much else, and who find themselves riding the disappearing edge of a bygone era. The film is a loving recreation of the late 19th century old west, a time on the cusp of encroaching industrialism, where horses were exchanged for bicycles, and the outlaws of the old west were finally stamped out for good. At the heart of the film is an entertaining and original script… sharp, witty and tragic in equal spades; a formula that has oft-been emulated by others since - but never to the same degree of success.
Paul Newman and Robert Redford strike up one of the most memorable rapports in film, creating thoroughly likeable characters. The dialogue is beautifully sarcastic and dry, and the direction is a wistful mix of the sidesplitting and poignant, lending the picture a kind of magic that often proves elusive in Hollywood.
HIGHLIGHTS: Butch and Sundance turn 'straight' - and find they have to use their guns for the first time. The final sequence in the film is also particularly memorable.
TRIVIA: Butch Cassidy's real-life sister served as an advisor of sorts on the film. Redford and Newman later teamed up again for 'The Sting'. Steve McQueen was to originally play the Sundance Kid, and introduced Paul Newman to the project.
The film won 4 Academy Awards - Best Song ('Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head'), Best Screenplay/Story, Best Score and Best Cinematography. It was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (George Roy Hill) and Best Sound.
Followed by a prequel, ‘Butch and Sundance: The Early Years’. No one saw it.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Partially based on real-life turn-of-the-century outlaw Butch Cassidy, the film follows his exploits (alongside his trusty sidekick, the Sundance Kid) from the U.S. to South America. Butch and Sundance, along with the Hole in the Wall gang, are train robbers. However, the rail company decides that it's had enough and sends the country's toughest lawman after them. As it transpires that there will inevitably be no escape for the pair whilst they remain in America they decide to make off to Bolivia, to start anew in another land of opportunity.
It's somewhat ironic that a film about nostalgia and changing times should hold up so well in years gone by, what with the phrase 'nostalgia aint what it used to be' and all that. Butch and Sundance are the last of a dying breed - happy-go-lucky opportunists who live on their wits and not much else, and who find themselves riding the disappearing edge of a bygone era. The film is a loving recreation of the late 19th century old west, a time on the cusp of encroaching industrialism, where horses were exchanged for bicycles, and the outlaws of the old west were finally stamped out for good. At the heart of the film is an entertaining and original script… sharp, witty and tragic in equal spades; a formula that has oft-been emulated by others since - but never to the same degree of success.
Paul Newman and Robert Redford strike up one of the most memorable rapports in film, creating thoroughly likeable characters. The dialogue is beautifully sarcastic and dry, and the direction is a wistful mix of the sidesplitting and poignant, lending the picture a kind of magic that often proves elusive in Hollywood.
HIGHLIGHTS: Butch and Sundance turn 'straight' - and find they have to use their guns for the first time. The final sequence in the film is also particularly memorable.
TRIVIA: Butch Cassidy's real-life sister served as an advisor of sorts on the film. Redford and Newman later teamed up again for 'The Sting'. Steve McQueen was to originally play the Sundance Kid, and introduced Paul Newman to the project.
The film won 4 Academy Awards - Best Song ('Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head'), Best Screenplay/Story, Best Score and Best Cinematography. It was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (George Roy Hill) and Best Sound.
Followed by a prequel, ‘Butch and Sundance: The Early Years’. No one saw it.
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